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WrestleMania 2018
WrestleMania 2018 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event run by the Ultimate Wrestling Federation. It took place on April 15, 2018. It was the first event under the WrestleMania name and featured talent from the Revolution brand. The event took place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. It is generally agreed upon as the biggest professional wrestling event of the year. Six matches were held on the event's card. The main event of the evening was for the UWF Championship, with Cesaro defeating Sheamus to win the title for the first time. Other matches on the card included The Miz winning the Intercontinental Championship against Seth Rollins and Bobby Roode in a triple threat match, and Vinny Marseglia retaining the Television Championship in the Monster's Ball match. Non-title matches included Jimmy Jacobs defeating Kevin Steen in a Cage of Death, Chris Jericho defeating Dolph Ziggler in an I Quit match, and Drew Gulak and Orange Cassidy both winning the Ultimate X match for a Television Championship opportunity. WrestleMania Chronology Previous: Inaugural Next: Final Revolution Pay-per-view Chronology Previous: Insurrextion 2018 Next: Backlash 2018 UWF Pay-per-view Chronology Previous: Insurrextion 2018 Next: Backlash 2018 Storylines On the February 14th episode of Revolution, Cesaro defeated Seth Rollins to become the number one contender for the UWF Championship at WrestleMania. On the March 14th edition pf Revolution, champion Sheamus and number one contender Cesaro teamed up against Kevin Steen and Minoru Suzuki in a losing effort. The next week, Cesaro defeated Steen in singles action, which resulted in a beatdown from Steen to Cesaro. Sheamus made the save, but accidentally Brogue Kicked Cesaro instead of Steen. On the go-home episode, Sheamus made the save for Cesaro during a Jimmy Jacobs/Dolph Ziggler beatdown. This prompted the whole locker room to come out and brawl, leaving them alone in the ring, having a staredown. On the March 14th edition of Revolution, Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins issued an open challenge for WrestleMania, which was accepted by both Bobby Roode and The Miz, making the matchup a triple threat match. The next week on MizTV, both Roode and Rollins are attacked by Miz's Hired Gunns. On the March 29th edition of Revolution, Roode and Rollins lost a tag team match to the Hired Gunns after Rollins abandoned Roode during the match. During the go-home show brawl, Roode hit Rollins with a Glorious DDT before getting triple teamed by Miz and the Hired Gunns. On the March 14th episode of Revolution, new Television Champion Vinny Marseglia celebrated his title victory, but was interrupted by Marty Scurll, who wanted a rematch, Bray Wyatt, whose intentions we never knew because he was interrupted by Minoru Suzuki. EC3 announced a Monster's Ball match for the Television Championship. Sin Cara then came out, and pointed his way into the match, making it a 5-way match. After making his return at Insurrextion, Kevin Steen was confronted by Jimmy Jacobs, who wanted to get back together with Steen. Kevin declined, setting his goal to be the UWF Champion. On the March 22nd episode of Revolution, following a second attempt to have Steen join him, Jacobs attacked Steen during his match against Cesaro, causing Steen to lose both the match and a potential opportunity to get into the amin event of WrestleMania. The next week, following a Steen victory over Drew Gulak, Jacobs revealed he had kidnapped Steen's son Owen, agreeing to return him only if Steen agrees to a Cage of Death match at WrestleMania. And it was so. On the March 22nd edition of Revolution, Chris Jericho called out Dolph Ziggler for revenge for the post-match assault at Insurrextion. EC3 came out and announced an I Quit match between Jericho and Ziggler at WrestleMania. On the March 29th edition of Revolution, Jericho was distracted by Ziggler on commentary, leading to his defeat at the hands on Monty Brown. On the go-home show, Jericho took out Ziggler and simultaneously saving former rival Sheamus from a beatdown during the roster-wide brawl. On the March 29th episode of Revolution, EC3 announced an Ultimate X match for a number one contendership opportunity for the Television Championship at WrestleMania. Initially announced for the match were Drew Gulak, Orange Cassidy, Monty Brown, and Viktor. Later added to the match were Bubba Ray Dudley, Daniel Bryan, Matt Hardy, and Roman Reigns. Event The show opened with Chris Jericho taking on Dolph Ziggler in an I Quit match. Jericho won after a Codebreaker through a table followed by a Liontamer forced Ziggler to submit. This marked Ziggler's final appearance with the company, as he quietly retired due to his injuries. The second match was the Ultimate X match for a Television Championship match contract. The match included Drew Gulak, Monty Brown, Orange Cassidy, Viktor, Matt Hardy, Bubba Ray Dudley, a returning Roman Reigns, and a returning Daniel Bryan. The match ended when Gulak and Cassidy, who were friends and part of the Gentlemen's Club at the time, both simultaneously claimed the X, leading to a tie between the two. In the third match of the night, Vinny Marseglia defended the Television Championship in the Monster's Ball match, involving Bray Wyatt, Marty Scurll, Minoru Suzuki, and Sin Cara. Marseglia won the match by pinning Wyatt after beating him with a baseball bat. The fourth match of the evening saw The Miz defeat Bobby Roode and Seth Rollins to win the Intercontinental Championship for the first time. The match ended after The Miz forced Roode to tap out to the Figure Four Leglock. This was Roode's final match to date. The second-to-last match was a Cage of Death match between Kevin Steen and Jimmy Jacobs. Jacobs was victorious after stabbing Steen in the stomach with a screwdriver, followed by a Contra Code to claim a pinfall victory. It is rumored that Steen did not survive this match, as Steen has not been seen or heard from since. The main event was for the UWF Championship. Cesaro defeated Sheamus to claim the title for the first time while simultaneously ending Sheamus's record reign at 124 days. The match ended when Cesaro hit the Neutralizer for the pinfall victory. Aftermath On the April 25th episode of Revolution, EC3 and the returning Maxine announced Cesaro would defend his newly-won UWF Championship against Intercontinental Champion The Miz and Television Champion Vinny Marseglia in a Champion of Champions match at Backlash. The next week when the trio of titleholders were in a 6-man tag team match, they lost due to Cesaro and Marseglia not intervening on The Miz's behalf. The next week, after Cesaro and Marseglia won a tag team match in the main event, The Miz attacked Cesaro, asserting his dominance over the two. On the go-home show, Marseglia attacked Cesaro after his victory over Roman Reigns. On the April 25th episode of Revolution, EC3 and Maxine announced a Money In The Bank match for Backlash. Initially announced for the match were Jimmy Jacobs, Chris Jericho, Sheamus, Seth Rollins, Marty Scurll, and a sixth competitor, who eventually turned out to be Bubba Ray Dudley. During the buildup to the match, Sheamus was attacked and replaced by Bray Wyatt. Sheamus left the company to treat his injuries, and has not returned since. In the weeks leading up to WrestleMania, teaser promos had been aired from Triple H about a "new recruit" to the company. On the April 25th episode of Revolution, he revealed that the "new recruit" was actually himself. Daniel Bryan rained on his parade, setting in motion a rekindling of their prior hatred for each other. On the May 2nd episode of Revolution, Bryan defeated HHH via pinfall, but he had his feet on the middle rope. The next week, Triple H confronted and attacked Bryan after his loss against The Miz. Maxine later announced their rematch at Backlash. In the aftermath of the Ultimate X match, it was decided that Drew Gulak and Orange Cassidy would face each other in a match to determine a true number one contender to the Television Championship at Backlash. On the May 9th episode of Revolution, Maxine announced that Sin Cara, Jay White, and Matt Hardy would face Roman Reigns, The Brian Kendrick, and Minoru Suzuki in a 6-man tag team match at Backlash, with the winners being placed in a triple threat match on the next episode of Revolution to determine a number one contender for the Intercontinental Championship. Reception The event was very well-received by critics. Crann called the event "a really solid show". Chase called the main event "stellar" and the Jacobs/Steen match "awesome". Soup called the Monster's Ball match "my favorite match of the night". KingCairns called the Ultimate X match a "nice swerve". Results Chris Jericho defeated Dolph Ziggler * I Quit match Drew Gulak and Orange Cassidy defeated Monty Brown, Viktor, Matt Hardy, Bubba Ray Dudley, Roman Reigns, and Daniel Bryan (w/William Regal). * Ultimate X match for the number one contendership to the Television Championship Vinny Marseglia © defeated Bray Wyatt, Sin Cara, Marty Scurll, and Minoru Suzuki (w/Suzuki-gun) via pinfall * Hot Topic Presents Monster's Ball match for the Television Championship The Miz defeated Bobby Roode and Seth Rollins © via submission * Triple threat match for the Intercontinental Championship Jimmy Jacobs defeated Kevin Steen via pinfall * Cage of Death match Cesaro defeated Sheamus © via pinfall * Singles match for the UWF Championship